APRIL 28, 2008; AMSTERDAM
Early AM arrival in Amsterdam.

APRIL 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 2008: CHICAGO / OTTAWA
Family visit; grandma in Ottawa. Rehearsal dinner and Jason and Kathryn’s wedding. Family photo at Starved Rock Lodge. Hail and thunder storm. Boat ride with John and Jim on the Illinois river.

APRIL 22, 2008: PHILADELPHIA
Horse and Buggy ride, visits to The Kimmel Center, Anne’s office and Fred’s project 101. Afternoon to the overwhelming large King Of Prussia Mall.

APRIL 21, 2008: NEW YORK
Daytrip to New York. Taking the train into Penn Station where we meet long time friends of Joan, Fred and Vickie for lunch at the bustling restaurant. From there a walk to Rockefeller Centre, up to the 69th. floor for a view, and via Time Square back to the train and Philly.

APRIL 20, 2008: PHILADELPHIA
Sunday shopping and sightseeing in Buck’s county.
Visit a friend’s (Fred) horse farm and walked across a bridge to New Jersey.

APRIL 19. 2008: PHILADELPHIA
Five AM up and to the Asheville airport, which is of similar size of Nelson. The prop planes are taxiing on one engine to save fuel. Two short flights and I meet up with Joan and Anne in Philly. Michelle and Erik are asleep after their long trip from New Zealand yesterday. After lunch to the ballgame; Phillies against the New York Mets. The home team lost 2-4. The imposing stadium has 44,000 people and the large screen gets all the attention from time to time. Anne lives down town, older brick houses, bad streets (holes, cracks and litter) but a bustling nightlife with the many cafes, shops etc.


APRIL 18, 2008 ASHEVILLE, NC
Dave is over 90 years old, plays tennis 3 times a week and was world champion senior player in the 85-90 year bracket. The area they live is called Beaver Creek and is a secluded ‘gated community’.
Received confirmation from the people I spoke to in California that they have booked their flights and will be traveling on a NZ custom tour with me next February. Also the people I met in Montgomery are ready to sign up as well.
Today downtown shopping and the rive side arts and crafts studios. Shoes and jeans are still less than half of what these are in NZ. There are many older red brick (tall) buildings mainly due to the available clay in the area, still standing and not replaced by the modern glass towers. There are studios and art galleries in the old store / warehouse / industry buildings along the river. Many of them rough iron and steel sculptures and glass. There is also a macro brewery and interestingly, a processing plant for bio-fuels. These guys collect from 100-150 restaurants in the city their cooking oil and veggies and convert to bio diesel, sold to almost ten gas stations in the area as Blue Ridge Biofuel. Placeways gallery has a woodworker making similar furniture as we can see in Nelson. They are using some different woods like cherry and maple. The nicest decorated place was the restrooms in the building.
North Carolina’s slogan ‘First of Flight” relates to the Wright brothers who (arguably) took their fist flight from here.
This evening it’s a cook-out Southern style at (my previous tour guests) Elisabeth and Stuart.

APRIL 17, 2008: ASHEVILLE, NC
After a long rest Peg takes me to the mail attraction of the State; Biltmore House. America’s largest home, build in 1895 has grandeur and elegance throughout.
This castle like enormous building has thousands of visitors each day, shuffling through the many rooms, from formal dining room to the fourth floor where the servants lived.
Gardens, farm and winery as well as a small village are all part of the estate where some 3,000 people work on maintenance, hosting etc. A visit to the winery after lunch. Due to the number of people, all the visiting ‘wine tasters’ are grouped and directed to one of the 10 tasting areas each with a host/ hostess explaining the wines. One interesting detail is that there is the free tasting area for the ‘common’ wines and an area where the tasting cost $3 –for the top wines. On the way back we travel a part of the Blue Ridge Parkway a totally new road of more than 440 miles, created as a ‘rural’ scenic alternative for the highway. The views of the valleys and mountains compete with Maine and Vermont. Imagine the looks of it in fall! A visit to the Folk Art Center where many different arts and crafts are on display and for sale. One interesting instrument maker was demonstrating the Psalter a German dulcimer type of instrument, played with a bow. Dinner at Savoy an excellent restaurant with trout on the menu.

APRIL 16, 2008, ASHEVILLE, NC
Ralph takes me for a 2 ½ hour drive back to Atlanta City airport. Red clay soil dominates the color all along the long straight and flat highway. Many car manufacturing plants are in this area, a brand-new KIA plant is being built along the highway. Massive buildings of steel framing are up. This will be a boost for the regional employment. Atlanta airport has a bright glass central hall with shops and cafes and a friendly atmosphere. In the corridors are tall plants and rocking chairs which give the whole place a relaxed feel. A short flight to Charlotte and then another short flight with a Dash 8 (remember these in NZ?) loud and noisy. Asheville is a (really) small airport where I am met by Peggie and Dave who traveled with me in 2001. I was expecting Elisabeth and Stu (custom tour 2005) however due to a mis-communication / lost emails (?) they had to send Peg and Dave. I did three states today and lost an hour traveling from Alabama (Alex City) to Georgia (Atlanta) and now in Asheville, North Carolina.

APRIL 15, 2008, ALEXANDER CITY
Catching up with emails etc. Lunch in town. A small (11,000) friendly town which was , and in a small scale still is, the home of Russell (athletics sportswear) Some of the mills are still here, however the shop is not a real outlet store (no specials) and they are now part of FruitoftheLoom label and all owned by Warren Buffett. The Russells still own vast areas of land, which slowly is being developed. We visit Cliff and Sara who were on a 2006 custom tour before Cliff went out hunting in Wanaka for a week. On the wall in his trophy room are his New Zealand mountain thar and stag mounted.

April 14th. 2008. ALEXANDER CITY
Ralph picks me up from the hotel and we catch up on the drive from Atlanta to Alexander City. Ralph and Allyn were on our custom tour in 2006 and we cast our thoughts back and talk about any changes. At 5 PM Allyn and Ralph have invited some 25 plus friends who are interested in travel (and New Zealand) I do a lot of talking and ‘selling’ We’ll follow up with the people most interested in the next few days. The house is on Lake Martin, on a very pretty and secluded point, however today was a very windy day. From my olden sailing days, I would say a great day for rough sailing. The house is bright and colorful and contains a great selection of arts and crafts from all over the world. I notice a few familiar (Hoglund) glass pieces from New Zealand. Also added my gift to them which is classic Maori art. All along the lake some 20000 people have some of the most humungous houses, with some contemporary and more cabin like ones as well. Up to half are holiday homes.

April 13th. 2008. ATLANTA
After Joan and David drop me off at SFO, I fly to Atlanta, Georgia. From the air the area looks very flat and green and in the midst of the flat a few clusters of skyscrapers popping up in the distance. Late arrival at the hotel. Disruptive day
Due to loosing 3 hours (time difference)

April 12th. 2008. Redwood City (San Francisco peninsula)
Catching up on work in the morning, and planning to travel by train to Redwood City, however I changed my mind about the train and had the cab drive me. Had a look around in Los Altos and later in the afternoon met up with potential guests. They are planning to visit New Zealand next January for a three week custom tour. Tonight I will stay with Joan and David, previous guests from a custom tout a year or so ago. We have a great dinner at the Woodland Pub.

April 11th. 2008. Los Angeles.
Daytrip to Los Angeles for presentation and update at Tourism New Zealand. This time, check in at the airports is more strenuous; shoes off, laptop out etc. and the ticketing is all ‘punch it in yourself’
A little delay for my United flight –not as bad as American Airlines who have huge problems with cancelled flights. Darrell, an old friend of Joan’s who lives in LA meet me at the airport and drives me to the meeting with Tourism New Zealand in Santa Monica after we have lunch. At the meeting we exchange information; I present our update and hear about some of the trends. We also explore the new possibilities for us with the new flights from Canada direct into Auckland. On the way back to LAX Darrell shows me his beautiful hillside house (5 rooms 6 bathrooms- one person) just outside Santa Monica, actually within Los Angeles. Many ‘celebrities’ reside in that area. On the way back to LAX I took some pictures of the 2 x 8 lane highway which was very busy. A long line at security where extra details were looked at. There was also a sort of check-up point driving onto the airport, which indicated they had something going on. I managed to rebook the return flight an hour earlier than planned however when everyone was loaded onto the plane and sitting down, they discovered that there was no pilot and co-pilot-oops. So, and hour later after waiting in the plane, we took off back to San Francisco. Altogether a long but successful day.

April 10th 2008. San Francisco.
This day will be drafted in the history books for the big day of confusion in the worldwide Olympics Torch Relay. I took the BART to downtown, and walked along the Embarcadero towards where the torch was supposed to start from. Since I was early enough, people were gathering along the road behind the set up gates, and enormous amounts of police in any way shape or form were gathering around. Waiting at an intersection, many pro Tibet protesters were congregating, and an escorted bus turned the corner-all the protesters jumped on that bus and stopped it. The bus was empty – or perhaps it had the torch in it (under the seats??) Even now we don’t know for sure, because due to all the protests, the entire route was changed and changed again.
I went for lunch at Pier 39 and luckily missed most of the commotion and the many disappointed people who were waiting and did not get to see the torch because of the different route.

April 9th 2008. San Francisco
It is time to visit the county where all of my guests come from: the US of A. My last visit was in 2002, when I visited many travel agents and some of my previous guest, this time only previous clients are on my travel schedule. Mind you, over 60 % of my guests are word of mouth referrals, so that’s where I put my energy and expense.
After a 3 hour delay I arrive in San Francisco (SFO airport), and I experience a refreshing difference from my last experience at LAX. This time no cues, no lengthy check ups and no digging in suitcases. Just a walk thru from the plane to the shuttle. Didn’t even had to open my laptop. Outside it is surprisingly cool here for the time of the year? (50s F) with a stiff breeze.
Relax for the afternoon, and a meal at the Hungry Hunter around the corner of La Quinta Hotel. Get used to American meals: salad first, bread, water and large portions of everything. Also, speed is a factor. No time to quietly sit and ponder for a while. One AM flights, the CalTrain and the next door cool houses creating some noise throughout a restless night.

USA trip

April 9th 2008. San Francisco

It is time to visit the county where all of my guests come from: the US of A. My last visit was in 2002, when I visited many travel agents and some of my previous guest, this time only previous clients are on my travel schedule. Mind you, over 60 % of my guests are word of mouth referrals, so that’s where I put my energy and expense.
After a 3 hour delay I arrive in San Francisco (SFO airport), and I experience a refreshing difference from my last experience at LAX. This time no cues, no lengthy check ups and no digging in suitcases. Just a walk thru from the plane to the shuttle. Didn’t even had to open my laptop. Outside it is surprisingly cool here for the time of the year? (50s F) with a stiff breeze.
Relax for the afternoon, and a meal at the Hungry Hunter around the corner of La Quinta Hotel. Get used to American meals: salad first, bread, water and large portions of everything. Also, speed is a factor. No time to quietly sit and ponder for a while. One AM flights, the CalTrain and the next door cool houses creating some noise throughout a restless night.

April 10th 2008. San Francisco.

This day will be drafted in the history books for the big day of confusion in the worldwide Olympics Torch Relay. I took the BART to downtown, and walked along the Embarcadero towards where the torch was supposed to start from. Since I was early enough, people were gathering along the road behind the set up gates, and enormous amounts of police in any way shape or form were gathering around. Waiting at an intersection, many pro Tibet protesters were congregating, and an escorted bus turned the corner-all the protesters jumped on that bus and stopped it. The bus was empty – or perhaps it had the torch in it (under the seats??) Even now we don’t know for sure, because due to all the protests, the entire route was changed and changed again.
I went for lunch at Pier 39 and luckily missed most of the commotion and the many disappointed people who were waiting and did not get to see the torch because of the different route.

April 11th. 2008. Los Angeles.

Daytrip to Los Angeles for presentation and update at Tourism New Zealand. This time, check in at the airports is more strenuous; shoes off, laptop out etc. and the ticketing is all ‘punch it in yourself’
A little delay for my United flight –not as bad as American Airlines who have huge problems with cancelled flights. Darrell, an old friend of Joan’s who lives in LA meet me at the airport and drives me to the meeting with Tourism New Zealand in Santa Monica after we have lunch. At the meeting we exchange information; I present our update and hear about some of the trends. We also explore the new possibilities for us with the new flights from Canada direct into Auckland. On the way back to LAX Darrell shows me his beautiful hillside house (5 rooms 6 bathrooms- one person) just outside Santa Monica, actually within Los Angeles. Many ‘celebrities’ reside in that area. On the way back to LAX I took some pictures of the 2 x 8 lane highway which was very busy. A long line at security where extra details were looked at. There was also a sort of check-up point driving onto the airport, which indicated they had something going on. I managed to rebook the return flight an hour earlier than planned however when everyone was loaded onto the plane and sitting down, they discovered that there was no pilot and co-pilot-oops. So, and hour later after waiting in the plane, we took off back to San Francisco. Altogether a long but successful day.

April 12th. 2008. Redwood City (San Francisco peninsula)
Catching up on work in the morning, and planning to travel by train to Redwood City, however I changed my mind about the train and had the cab drive me. Had a look around in Los Altos and later in the afternoon met up with potential guests. They are planning to visit New Zealand next January for a three week custom tour. Tonight I will stay with Joan and David, previous guests from a custom tout a year or so ago. We have a great dinner at the Woodland Pub.

April 13th. 2008. ATLANTA

After Joan and David drop me off at SFO, I fly to Atlanta, Georgia. From the air the area looks very flat and green and in the midst of the flat a few clusters of skyscrapers popping up in the distance. Late arrival at the hotel. Disruptive day
Due to loosing 3 hours (time difference)

April 14th. 2008. ALEXANDER CITY

Ralph picks me up from the hotel and we catch up on the drive from Atlanta to Alexander City. Ralph and Allyn were on our custom tour in 2006 and we cast our thoughts back and talk about any changes. At 5 PM Allyn and Ralph have invited some 25 plus friends whoa re interested in travel (and New Zealand) I do a lot of talking and ‘selling’ We’ll follow up with the people most interested in the next few days. The house is on Lake Martin, on a very pretty and secluded point, however today was a very windy day. From my olden sailing days, I would say a great day for rough sailing. The house is bright and colorful and contains a great selection of arts and crafts from all over the world. I notice a few familiar (Hoglund) glass pieces from New Zealand. Also added my gift to them which is classic Maori art.